10-03-2012
08:00 AM
382 Loves
Recently, you learned about one of my Adopt-A-Pilot students, 12-year-old Emily from Trenton, MO, and the opportunity I had to take her big dream on the dance floor to 30,000 feet. After you watch the world premiere of Southwest’s short film, “The Voyage of a Dream,” I hope you’ll agree with me that’s it’s so important to help kids dream big dreams, because if they don’t, they might never go after that dream. Here’s why I was motivated to do what I did. I have been a Southwest Pilot for nearly 11 years now. When I saw a life-sized cutout poster advertising Adopt-A-Pilot during my initial training, I knew I wanted to give back through this program. At that time, my three daughters were 6, 4, and 2. When I was able to participate in Adopt-A-Pilot the next year, I introduced the opportunity to my children’s school in Edmond, Oklahoma. From there, I moved to Trenton, MO, and since then, I have been adopted by at least one and even as many as six classes every year. I discovered I love another thing as well—teaching and mentoring; helping others make sense of what they want out of life. Whether it is teaching them where to focus their attention when executing a crosswind landing maneuver, or how to solve a challenging physics problem, or what career path might best suit them, I enjoy helping young people through the process to the point of confidence. So, for years, I lead my Adopt-a-Pilot program with the hope that I could help students see, a little earlier in life, that loving what you do is the key to long term happiness and success—however you decide to define it. To help with that endeavor, I began to seek out others from the local community who were experts in the fields most common to my student's interests who would hopefully convey that sense of passion in their work that I was trying to help my students "catch." As you might imagine, fifth graders can be a little reserved and bashful around their friends about a more grown-up concept like "passion." I really hoped that I could help bring my students out of their shells, even if just for a little bit, so they can feel free to dream their own dreams. Thanks to another Southwest Airlines Pilot, I began applying his idea and asked my students to write an essay on what they wanted to be when they grow up, which I then would take on the road with me. During a long flight, I’ll make an announcement describing the Adopt-A-Pilot program and ask for help from Passengers who are in the same or similar job or career and are willing to write a few sentences or paragraphs of encouragement or advice to my students. I love this approach because it not only gives students some individualized feedback from a person from as far away as Australia or Rio de Janeiro (how cool is that?!), but it also broadens public awareness and perception among our Customers and those whom they tell about the Adopt-A-Pilot program and the more than 40,000 students we reach every year. Emily's essay was exceptional, like many I have received from my students over the years. She conveyed a sense of passion and commitment to a future career in dance that came across in just a few simple sentences. But, it was the ringing of the Flight Attendant call button and the response from Andrea Spungen on the flight when I read Emily’s letter, who just so happens to be the Co-Chairman of the NYC Ballet Gala. Her response back to Emily with an invitation to go to the NYC Ballet Gala and meet professional ballet dancers made me see the big opportunity I had to make on this little dreamer. Whether Emily ends up pursuing a life on stage dancing or not, I am sure she will never forget this experience, and I am convinced that it will help Emily choreograph her bright future! I get tremendous pleasure every year presenting the Adopt-A-Pilot program with my own little spin—it’s really the best job or career anybody can have. I know this because I’m doing something I love. I never thought I wanted to "drive the bus" for a major airline. But, then I learned that my real passion was to deliver to people the sense of safety and security they have in a confident, competent, and personable Pilot. It's what I do, it's what I love.
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As I think about the 10,000-hour milestone that our Pilots have “logged” in support of Adopt-a-Pilot, I am blown away! From what I gather, the true number of hours may even be greater since some of our Pilots didn’t track their time. I am very proud to be one of Southwest’s Adopt-a-Pilot volunteers and I am also very proud that Southwest continues to support and grow this program that has (and will continue to) made a positive impact on many young students’ lives! As a parent of school-age children, I am very grateful of how Adopt-a-Pilot has given me a tangible way to be a partner in my own children’s education. Many Pilots, including myself, find it challenging to be fully engaged in their children’s schooling because our schedules take us far away from home for half of every week. With our traveling routine, it would be easy to watch from the sidelines as we let the school system take care of the business of educating our children. We cannot help our children figure out every difficult homework problem or study for every test when we get into our hotel room after midnight. We often have to miss classroom events and extracurricular functions because we are in the air. But, through Adopt-a-Pilot, I can offer the school a proven program that lets me work alongside my child’s teachers and with my child’s classmates and become an “insider” at the school and even a bit better parent. By far the greatest benefit I have seen from putting my little chunk of those 10,000 hours into Adopt a Pilot every February and March, has been the satisfaction that I have made an impact in children’s lives. When I show up for my school visits, the students are so enthusiastic and full of questions, they show so much excitement for our lesson and are so eager to show me what they know or have learned. From science experiments with air pressure to game shows about geography, I always have a rapt audience. In the end, I most enjoy reading their essays about their career goals and their plans to achieve that goal and the feedback they get from our Customers after I pass them out during a long flight. When students come up to me, even after several years, and recount their favorite activities with Adopt-a-Pilot, I know we’re accomplishing something special together! Thanks Southwest, for sponsoring the Adopt-a-Pilot program; thanks to all the schools out there that give us the opportunity to bring Adopt-a-Pilot to the students, and thanks to all my fellow Adopt-a-Pilots out there--through a few hours at a time, we have all chipped in to create a mountain of impact! For a video about this milestone, please click here.
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